Planned disc golf course in Lafayette draws unexpected opposition

Waneka Lake Park neighbors question impact, demand for new amenity

A map of Waneka Lake Park in Lafayette outlines the proposed layout of a new disc golf course. (City of Lafayette / Courtesy image)

A planned disc golf course at Waneka Lake Park in Lafayette is under fire from residents who claim the new amenity will negatively impact the beloved outdoor community hub.

Residents have brought up concerns over the impact on natural habitat, noise and safety, and question the community demand for the disc golf course, given the lack of use at the city's defunct course at Bob L. Burger Recreation Center.

"The plan which was distributed in the mail shows a really large area of the park now dedicated to disc golf," said Lafayette resident John Hallowell. "Those who spend time walking around the park know there's some fairly natural habitat. It seems to me like the large usage of land in the park really takes away and potentially displaces the habitat that is there."

Several residents have brought up the fact that Waneka Lake Park and adjacent Greenlee Wildlife Preserve are home to a large number of bird species, including birds of prey, such as owls, hawks and bald eagles.

Randy Neindorff, a Lafayette resident who first started playing disc golf in 1969, said while he supports disc golf in general, he doesn't believe Waneka Lake Park is a good fit for a course.

"There are all kinds birds up there and all kinds of animals that live in those grassy areas," Neindorff said. "Lord help the first person that kills an eagle is all I've got to say."

Neindorff said the proposed layout of the course will lead to safety issues. He cited one proposed hole that crosses the two main pedestrian paths leading to the park from the south.

"There is a certain liability that the city has to have," Neindorff said. "What happens if ... somebody happens to make a mistake and all of a sudden something happens and a 75-year-old gentleman falls and breaks a leg or if somebody smashes a kid in the head? Who is going to be responsible for that?

"And what happens when somebody decides ... to jump a fence to get a Frisbee and there's a dog in the back yard and somebody gets bit?"

Former Lafayette Mayor Pro Tem Steve Kracha said most of the fears he is hearing are based purely on "what if" scenarios.

"I spent five years as a liaison to the Lafayette Open Space Advisory Committee, and one of the things that they're very careful about is making sure that we're not interrupting natural wildlife habitat," Kracha said. "I've reviewed the course, and the only place where this is taking place in the park is in areas where there already are social trails. This isn't pristine land. It doesn't go anywhere near Greenlee Preserve."

Ray Woodruff, a Lafayette resident and president of Mile High Disc Golf Club, said the disc golf community tends to be a steward of community parks.

"We do more things than play with plastic Frisbees and throw them through the air," Woodruff said. "We do educate, we do support, we do park cleanups, we do all the things around communities that make the parks look as good as they do."

Whether the anticipated impacts on the park are valid or not, residents still question the community's desire for a disc golf course. A disc golf course didn't score high on a survey of residents' desired amenities.

"I would question how much demand there is for this course," Hallowell said "The survey that's in the master plan from 2012, which I think has been cited as a reason to do this ... lists (a disc golf course) as No. 17 out of 20 items that were surveyed. So it's very low on the feedback that came in. I wonder how many of the things above No. 17 have been addressed."

"We wanted a site that had infrastructure, where the topography made it challenging, and where we had available park land," Cheesman said. "I don't have a million and a half dollars for some of the top options. This is something we can do right now. I've got repurposed baskets, I've got infrastructure over there with restrooms and parking."

By repurposing the pins from the former recreation center course, the total cost of installing a disc golf course at Waneka Lake will barely top $12,000, making it an inexpensive addition, Kracha said.

"We're talking about $12,000. It's very cheap," he said. "And it doesn't matter if it's 17th on the list or first on the list. This is something that people want."

Not everyone agrees.

New York transplant Nancy Walker and her husband recently bought a home on Sparta Drive in Lafayette and her yard backs up to one of the proposed fairways. She said a disc golf course isn't what she bargained for when she moved to the area.

"The view from our back yard is going to be very, very impacted by this crazy, crazy idea of golf discs," Walker said. "I don't care about it. I want my back yard. I want my view. I want my privacy."

Cheesman said he understands residents' concerns, and emphasized that nothing is set in stone.

"The resistance that we're having is because it's in their back yard, and I understand that," said Cheesman, who added that despite public input meetings during the past year, opposition hasn't surfaced until recently. "The flight pattern is important to me, that's why I've walked the course seven times now. We were careful not to have any holes finish toward a residential fence. But at the end of the day, if pin placement isn't proper, we'll pick it up and move it."

While homeowners bordering Waneka Lake Park for years have enjoyed a relatively unused perimeter buffer to the park, Kracha points out the land is not open space and always has been intended for recreation purposes.

"This is not open space. This is a park. It's for recreation," Kracha said. "We're not taking anything away from the park; we're adding an amenity to the park."

Lafayette resident and disc golf enthusiast Jeff Scott, who has been following the planning of the Waneka Lake course since the city's initial site visit more than a year ago, said the last-minute opposition was unexpected, and unfounded.

"I think there's a lot of misinformation and a lot of fear-based reaction that has come out," Scott said. "I wasn't aware of the huge opposition against this, so I'm quite surprised, actually, because I think this is a pretty miraculous proposal."

Cheesman said the city is still taking public input — a process that will continue at the May 20 City Council meeting.

"I've promised residents they'll have another time to talk at the next meeting. I'm not in a hurry. I can pour the pads and install the pins at any time," Cheesman said. "If this is approved, I'm looking at the end of June to begin installation. I'll probably only do the first nine (holes), which is the east side, this year. The back nine is something we'd look at probably in the spring next year."

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